PC3 Project CARS 3 to Change Focus?

[Paul Jeffrey]

Slightly Mad Studios Head Ian Bell recently revealed PCARS 3 is in development, and now hints have been dropped that the direction of the title might change for the next release.

The Project CARS series of games have, up until this point, been heavily focussed on a wide selection or road and race cars from a wide variety of different disciplines of motorsport - giving players the opportunity to drive such varied machines as top tier open wheel cars, to stockcar, touring cars, GTs, historic and road going performance machines.

Although the scope of the previous two versions of the game are indeed admirable, some could argue that potentially Slightly Mad Studios looked to become a jack of all trades with their game content, and as a result became the master of none.

This appears to have been noted by the decision makers back at SMS, as Ian Bell once again took to the internet to drop a few hints about the next release - suggesting that maybe Slightly Mad Studios would look to return to their roots somewhat, and produce an experience more akin to the earlier Need for Speed Shift release of 2009.

“I’ll let you know that pCARS3 will be more ‘focused’… More ‘fun’…" said Bell over on the GT Plant forums. "We went to insane lengths with variation in pCARS2 and with that comes infinite balancing issues. We’ve learned a lesson here and although we have no intention of reducing content, we know what we need to fix, where we made design decisions that were, let’s call it, ‘sub-optimal’…​

“pCARS3 will be more of a spiritual successor to Shift, but with all of the sim goodness everyone appreciates… The key focus though is on fun and not biting off more than we can properly chew and digest.”
​

Ian Bell does refer to the desire to retain the "sim goodness" of PCARS 1 & 2, however the shift (ha ha) towards an experience more closely aligned to the Need for Speed series does suggest that the new title could take itself a little less seriously than has been the case in the past, and leads one to wonder if a more arcade slant is to be applied to the title than has been the case in the past.

With PCARS 1 & 2 failing to match the quality of other sim racing titles the likes of rFactor 2, Assetto Corsa, RaceRoom and AMS, and with new games from Reiza Studios and the Early Access Assetto Corsa Competizione from Kunos in the works, a move towards a more fun and light hearted experience is probably not a bad idea for PCARS and the new title - quite how the end result will pan out remains to be seen.

One thing is for sure, however SMS pitch the new title, it will be very interesting to hear and read what is said on the build up to release of what is surely going to be another very interesting piece of software from the prolific game studio.

Check out the Project CARS 3 sub forum here at RaceDepartment for more news, discussion and features on this sequel release to the hugely popular Project CARS franchise of games.

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[DrSmile]

Honestly i dont give a d*** s*** about that Mad Console.
For me its just a clear attack on the chinese market with a lowcost/entry scam console which will have 10games at most before it will start all over with a MC2....then with Razer Premium Mouse&Keyboard Support for maximum Spamware Mobile-F2P-Type Games. So the end result is not a classical gaming console - it will be more like a "cash-milking-machine" covered as a "gamers console"
Poor chinese people....we should warn them.

 

[Bjarne Hansen]

+250 posts in 2 days about nothing!
I guess Ian Bell got what he wanted free publicity.

 

[DrSmile]

thats correct

 

[Jurld]

With PCARS 1 & 2 failing to match the quality of other sim racing titles the likes [blah blah blah ad nauseam]

I didn't play PC1 at all. I have a lot of hours on Asetto Corsa. I almost didn't buy PC2 because of all the bullshit people spew about it not being as good as this that or the other, or else it's some kind of dumbed-down arcade racer. Well, I'm glad I did finally buy it. It has it's problems, sure, but so does AC.

Beyond that, PC2's VR implementation is second to none. I don't have to fiddle around for half an hour tweaking server settings every time I want to race my friends online. The menus and changing various settings via the user interface are miles and miles ahead of AC. It doesn't forget my wheel settings every other time I get in a car. It looks fantastic compared to AC. It has features like changeable weather, etc. that are not present in AC.

Summing it up... I bought PC2 and my hours per week in AC gradually dropped to almost zero. I bought ACC when it went live but have yet to install it. GT3 really doesn't do it for me and the content still has a long way to go.

I wish SMS the best of luck with whatever they do next.

 

[Michael Hornbuckle]

The VR mafia certainly is interesting; the main reason for using VR is for 'muh hardcore immersion' yet when it comes down to it you guys place graphics and support for your hardware as more important than physics.

 

[DrSmile]

The VR mafia certainly is interesting; the main reason for using VR is for 'muh hardcore immersion' yet when it comes down to it you guys place graphics and support for your hardware as more important than physics.

Acutally, i have a VR since ~2months and i still prefer AC over PC2. If i finally finish the VR Setup for RF2 then i think this will be the Nr.1 for me, although ACC is also installed.
But i bought the VR mostly for ETS2 where VR Implementation is much more worse then in all current Sim-Racing Titles.
And i have a 28" 4k Monitor, where all Games run and look much better then with the VR - still i find it hard to change back - cause the immersion is so great.

 

[SlawekTX3]

I didn't play PC1 at all. I have a lot of hours on Asetto Corsa. I almost didn't buy PC2 because of all the bullshit people spew about it not being as good as this that or the other, or else it's some kind of dumbed-down arcade racer. Well, I'm glad I did finally buy it. It has it's problems, sure, but so does AC.

Beyond that, PC2's VR implementation is second to none. I don't have to fiddle around for half an hour tweaking server settings every time I want to race my friends online. The menus and changing various settings via the user interface are miles and miles ahead of AC. It doesn't forget my wheel settings every other time I get in a car. It looks fantastic compared to AC. It has features like changeable weather, etc. that are not present in AC.

Summing it up... I bought PC2 and my hours per week in AC gradually dropped to almost zero. I bought ACC when it went live but have yet to install it. GT3 really doesn't do it for me and the content still has a long way to go.

I wish SMS the best of luck with whatever they do next.

I agree. The game is excellent, and certainly not to blush in front of others. And a quality that must be emphasized, the game is rich in content. It is possible to have fun in several categories without breaking the bank. You can get home from work, take an hour of your free time and have fun. The principle of a video game. SMS has committed far too many errors at the exit of the game. The FFB in the game is not terrible. We must take the time to properly adjust his game. I was responsible for a large esport team (TX3). I know very well all the games and their particularities. Project CARS in its place among pure simulations, like ACC, AC, rFactor2 or iRacing. The SMS approach is simply different and misunderstood by many.

 

[Lino Carreira]

VR implementation of PCARS2 only has ONE advantage over AC....it stores 2 sets of GFX, and even that as usual is incomplete since some visual options are separated and affect both screen and VR....it is beyond me why developers dont do something as easy as 2 sets of graphical settings for monitor(s)a and VR ...apart from that its an immense lie that VR on pcars2 is better then in AC....tbh only VR implementation that is better or on par with AC is iRacing... but...while you are on the car only...because if you have room scale vr like i do with HTC vive ...AC is the only one that allows you to go out of the car and see everything in its full glory .... iracing thinks your car is your shirt and pcars2 has squares instad of wheels in the back of the car and other missing **** to save performance....

 

[Damage Inc]

Was it just one person's opinion? I think the charge is that was one company's funded propaganda masquerading as one person's opinion

What seems far more likely is that Austin couldn't continue to slag off ANY of SMS's competitors (which he also did) without those competitors kicking up a legal stink. So the site had to close regarding conflicts of interest. Austin was hired by SMS to help, he was in a pretty unique position to be able to bridge that gap between real racers and sim racers. That took a lot of guts from both parties IMO. So no SMS did not get Austin's site closed down.

 

[Jonny Austin]

Do the professional drivers even pay for their iRacing access/content. Given they are in the testimonials somewhat sways me to be no they don't ?

It is well known Pro racing drivers have "deep pockets & very short arms"

I think that most of the pro drivers that use Iracing either have it already because they enjoy racing or use it as a tool to familiarise theirselves with tracks etc.Nick Tandy has been Iracing for quite a few years & most of his races are on ovals.I would think the ability to logon when they have a chance & race competitively with other drivers outweighs any deficiency Iracing has over any other sims.Also bear in mind that pro race drivers use actual driving simulators so when they go sim racing they are not looking for realism.

 

[Spinelli]

Balancing issues? Like what? Trying to balance the physics engine modeling to get as-good-as-possible results with all types of vehicles? I can see if that's the case as sometimes different types of vehicles can generally work better in some sims while others can sometimes work better in other sims. Focusing all efforts of physics coding for a lesser varied group of cars can be a good thing.

With PCARS 1 & 2 failing to match the quality of other sim racing titles the likes of rFactor 2, Assetto Corsa, RaceRoom and AMS

I'm not PCars' biggest fan in the world but that seems to be a bit of a low blow from you. Who says PC and/or PC2 is no match for all of the following: RF2, AC, R3E, and AMS? That's such a blanket statement. There are areas of each sims' driving physics that are superior and inferior to the other - they all have their strong and weak points. But to make it sound like PC/PC2 is on such a lower level than all those other games is a low-blow in my opinion and makes it sound like you have an agenda.

, and with new games from Reiza Studios and the Early Access Assetto Corsa Competizione from Kunos in the works, a move towards a more fun and light hearted experience is probably not a bad idea for PCARS and the new title - quite how the end result will pan out remains to be seen.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you're passively-aggressively implying something like the following: "it's a good idea that Project Cars is quitting trying to compete with other simracing titles since they failed so bad. Going in another direction like a less serious videogame would work better since they suck at competing with every other simracing game out there." That's the general vibe I'm getting from you there. To me, that's not what was said. What I read from their statement is that Project Cars will still be just as focused on physics but they will be creating a game with less variety of vehicles so they can also put more focus into a more specialized and fun experience (eg. maybe more career mode stuff, cut-scenes, driver contracts, press conferences, etc. - I'm just speculating here). That doesn't imply the game will be less serious on the physics side...not at all.

 

[Emerson Meyer]

PCars will be never praised in this place. No matter what.

The more unfinished the better... it seems.

You can start a sim under DirectX7... just the promise for the migration to DirectX 11 over the "following years" will be considered great... deserving even a "developer of the year" award.

Just take a look at the GTR3 fiasco. From some aleatory images to "Official WEC and the best sim ever, (best physics, graphics and sound)... " RIght.

 

[tr1v1um]

PCars will be never praised in this place. No matter what.

The more unfinished the better... it seems.

You can start a sim under DirectX7... just the promise for the migration to DirectX 11 over the "following years" will be considered great... deserving even a "developer of the year" award.

Just take a look at the GTR3 fiasco. From some aleatory images to "Official WEC and the best sim ever, (best physics, graphics and sound)... " RIght.

I see where you are going with this, but that argument doesn't hold well in my book and the developer of the year award was given because the developer sticked to their product and actually fixed/is still fixing the most problematic areas while SMS simply moved on leaving PCars 2 as is with bugs present allready present in PCars 1 after a quite short time of support while Kunos, S397, Reiza and S3 support/ed their products for a fairly long time. I have my fair share of experience with both Pcars titles, so I am not pulling that argument somewhere out of nowhere. Every product has it's issues and PCars 2 has without a question areas where it shines, but that's not the critical point here. (I)an Bell is allways making big promises about how his titles will blow everything out of the water, but at the end people have to pay the amount of a full price title to get a few fixes if they are lucky. It is a clever way of doing business, but at the end it gives SMS the same image as EA - a company that is milking their customers.

 

[Emerson Meyer]

but at the end people have to pay the amount of a full price title to get a few fixes if they are lucky. It is a clever way of doing business, but at the end it gives SMS the same image as EA - a company that is milking their customers.

Really? You guys keep the same talk over and over... and buying content over and over...to "support the devs".

Funny thing... are RR or RF2 finished products? Can you tell WHEN they will be finished? When the "support to the devs" will be enough? Almost 6 years so far...

Any way, I'm done.

There is a free pass to bash PCars, and even worst, there is some kind of obsession with the series. "Oh my life war destroyed by Ian Bell... my future was compromised, oh".

But, keep "supporting the devs". (business? money making? No, this is just with Ian Bell, the other developers only do for love...)

 

[DrSmile]

Really? You guys keep the same talk over and over... and buying content over and over...to "support the devs".

Funny thing... are RR or RF2 finished products? Can you tell WHEN they will be finished? When the "support to the devs" will be enough? Almost 6 years so far...

Any way, I'm done.

There is a free pass to bash PCars, and even worst, there is some kind of obsession with the series. "Oh my life war destroyed by Ian Bell... my future was compromised, oh".

But, keep "supporting the devs". (business? money making? No, this is just with Ian Bell, the other developers only do for love...)

You just totally miss the point of "why"

I know many Businessman and Companyowners, and none of them would ever think about of bragging and glorify about lying, false advertisement etc and treating their costumers like people in the format of I.B. do.

Well, they mostly also sell real products and just could turn down their business. Cause they don't hide behind a keyboard and would have their offices stormed by angry costumers.

But yeah, videogame industry seems to be somewhat different so all the foul tactics can be used.

 

[Andrew Le]

It's a tad weird...All this hate yet we'll still end up buying it. Love hate at it finest!

 

[Fat-Alfie]

Speak for yourself. I bought pCars1, was disappointed, and wouldn't buy anything else 'developed' by that company.

SMS's history is like an episode of the Bristish sit-com Only Fools and Horses...

 

[Metla]

I wont be buying it, Just like I didn't buy Pcars 2.

 

[Greg Latty]

fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Wont fool me ag........ ah who am i kidding, im probably going to buy it anyway

 

[mr Sw1tchblade]

The VR mafia certainly is interesting; the main reason for using VR is for 'muh hardcore immersion' yet when it comes down to it you guys place graphics and support for your hardware as more important than physics.

Sure. Because every game have different physics. I can easily jump from pcars2 online racing to iracing or ac, but when it comes to r3ror smth else i need to warm up again. Good i can have em all. And yep my hardware and my friends ready to race>>>physics or game titles.